October 13, 2026
REDDING, Calif. - Junior quarterback Ya'j Vance took home the hardware in Week 6 as he earned Frontier Conference Offensive Player of the Week earlier in the day and was later named PrestoStats NAIA Player of the Week for his performance against Southern Oregon this weekend.
Vance had another stellar week as he accounted for four touchdowns, including the walk-off game-winner in the form of a 13-yard scamper to find the end zone as time expired to cap off the come-from-behind victory to take down Southern Oregon, 36-35.
He connected with his go-to target, Ivan Huerta, on all three of his touchdown passes. He found Huerta for the first time at the end of the first quarter for a 14-yard touchdown pass, then later on an 8-yard pitch-and-catch in the second quarter to give Simpson the 16-14 lead, and finally on a 66-yard deep ball in the third quarter to give Simpson the 23-22 lead in the seesaw battle.
Vance helped lead the Red Hawks back from a 12-point deficit in the fourth quarter as they went 80 yards and 74 yards to find the end zone and score 13 unanswered points. Vance orchestrated the final drive, rushing for the 13-yard game-winner as time expired to walk off the Raiders.
He finished the day completing 21 out of his 32 passes for 346 yards with three touchdown passes through the air while adding 38 yards on the ground and one rushing touchdown, finishing with an elite 133.07 passer rating for the day.
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